Simultaneous removal of H2S and SO2 from tail gases

ABSTRACT

A process for the simultaneous removal of H 2 S and SO 2  from tail gases is disclosed. A tail gas stream is contacted with a sorbent in a sorption zone to produce a product gas stream and a sulfur laden sorbent, wherein the sorbent comprises Zn and a promoter metal.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to contaminant removal from tail gas streams. In another aspect, the present invention relates to a process for removing one or more contaminants from a tail gas stream via contact with a regenerable sorbent.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Tail gas streams originate from various sources. They are found in refinery off-gases as well as Claus units that are unable to convert all gaseous sulfur species to elemental sulfur. These tail gases contain SO₂ and H₂S at levels exceeding permissible emission limits which are currently set at 10 ppm H₂S and 250 ppm SO₂ in the United States. Tail gas compositions vary widely depending on the application. Often steam, syngas, and/or CO₂ are found in tail gases. Tail gases are mostly free of O₂ but often contain low levels of H₂.

One way to treat tail gases is by hydrotreating and amine scrubbing. Hydrotreating requires the whole gas stream to be heated to reaction temperature following a gas cool-down from 400° C. to near ambient temperatures prior to use. Inherent in this process is a significant energy penalty due to the heating and cooling steps required. The amine regeneration produces concentrated H₂S which is returned to a Claus unit where it is converted to elemental sulfur.

Alternatively, the gas can be oxidized in a burner to form SO₂ as the only sulfur species. This option also requires a cool-down phase and additional equipment to scrub the SO₂ and to regenerate the scrubbing material. This is known as the CANSOLV® process (CANSOLV is a registered trademark of Cansolv Technologies, Inc.) and the regeneration produces concentrated SO₂ which is recycled to a Claus unit.

Accordingly, a need exists for a process to remove contaminants from a tail gas stream that eliminates the heating-up and cooling-down steps from the alternative processes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a process for the simultaneous removal of SO₂ and H₂S, the process comprising, consisting of or consisting essentially of: a) contacting a tail gas stream comprising, consisting of, or consisting essentially of SO₂ and H₂S with a sorbent in a sorption zone to produce a product gas stream and a sulfur laden sorbent, wherein the sorbent comprises Zn and a promoter metal; and b) contacting at least a portion of the sulfur laden sorbent with a regeneration gas stream in a regeneration zone to produce a regenerated sorbent and an off-gas stream.

In another embodiment of the present invention there is provided a process for the simultaneous removal of SO₂ and H₂S, the process comprising, consisting of, or consisting essentially of: a) reducing a sorbent with a reducing agent in a reduction zone to form a reduced sorbent, wherein the reduced sorbent comprises Zn, expanded perlite, and a promoter metal, wherein at least a portion of the reduced sorbent comprises a substitutional solid solution characterized by the formula M_(Z)Zn_((1-Z))Al₂O₄ and a substitutional solid metal solution characterized by the formula M_(A)Zn_(B), wherein M is a promoter metal component and A, B, and Z are in the range of from about 0.01 to about 0.99; b) contacting the reduced sorbent with a tail gas stream comprising SO₂ and H₂S in a sorption zone to produce a product gas stream and a sulfur laden sorbent; c) regenerating the sulfur laden sorbent in a regeneration zone to produce a regenerated sorbent and an off gas comprising SO₂; d) returning at least a portion of the regenerated sorbent to said sorption zone; and e) recycling the SO₂ containing off gas to a SO₂ treatment zone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a contaminant removal system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are plots of the time elapsed vs. ion current from Mass Spectral Analysis of different components in tail gas during runs in which simulated tail gas feeds are contacted with sorbents.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a contaminant removal system 10 is illustrated as generally comprising a tail gas source 12, a sorption zone 14, a product gas user 16, a drying zone 18, a regeneration zone 20, and an off-gas user 22. In general, a tail gas stream exiting tail gas source 12 can be contacted with a sorbent in sorption zone 14 to thereby remove one or more contaminants from the gas stream. The resulting, contaminant-depleted product gas stream exiting sorption zone 14 can be routed to product gas stream 16, while at least a portion of the contaminant-laden sorbent can be dried in drying zone 18 prior to being regenerated via contact with a regeneration gas in regeneration zone 20. The resulting off-gas stream exiting regeneration zone 20 can be routed to off-gas conduit 22, while at least a portion of the regenerated sorbent can then be returned to sorption zone 14 via conduit 124 for subsequent reuse. In one embodiment, at least one of the sorption, drying, and regeneration zones 14, 18, 20 can be contained within the same process vessel. In another embodiment, at least one of the sorption, drying, and regeneration zones 14, 18, 20 can be contained in two or more separate process vessels. Further, the contaminant removal system 10 depicted in FIG. 1 can be operated in continuous, semi-continuous, semi-batch, or batch mode. The operation of contaminant removal system 10 will now be described in more detail below.

Tail gas source 12 can comprise any source or system capable of producing a gas stream. In one embodiment, the tail gas stream from gas source 12 can comprise in the range of from about 1 ppmv to about 30 volume percent (1 vol. %=10,000 ppmv), from about 1 ppmv to about 10 volume percent, from about 1 ppmv to about 1 volume percent, or from 1 ppmv to 1000 ppmv of SO₂. In one embodiment, the tail gas stream from gas source 12 can comprise in the range of from about 1 ppmv to about 60 volume percent, from about 1 ppmv to about 20 volume percent, from about 1 ppmv to about 5 volume percent, or from 1 ppmv to 5000 ppmv of H₂S. For example, gas source 12 can comprise a Claus unit, a refinery or chemical plant process stream, or any other suitable source.

In one embodiment, the ratio of H₂S to SO₂ in the tail gas stream exiting gas source 12 can be about 100:1, 10:1, 2:1, or 1:1. The tail gas stream can further comprise compounds selected from the group consisting of steam, syngas, CO₂, and combinations of any two or more thereof.

As depicted in FIG. 1, at least a portion of the tail gas stream exiting gas source 12 in conduit 112 can be routed into sorption zone 14, wherein the stream can be contacted with a sorbent to remove at least a portion of at least one contaminant from the incoming gas stream. In one embodiment, the tail gas stream is not cooled prior to entering sorption zone 14 and can have a temperature that is within about 200° C., about 100° C., or 50° C. of the temperature of the tail gas stream exiting gas source 12. Generally, the tail gas stream entering sorption zone 14 can have a temperature in the range of from about 150° C. to about 700° C., about 250° C. to about 600° C., or 350° C. to 450° C. and in the range of from about atmospheric to about 750 psig, about 250 psig to about 600 psig, or 350 psig to 450 psig.

In general, the sorbent employed in sorption zone 14 can be any sufficiently regenerable zinc-oxide-based sorbent composition having sufficient contaminant removal ability. While described below in terms of its ability to remove sulfur contaminants from an incoming tail gas stream, it should be understood that the sorbent of the present invention can also have significant capacity to remove one or more other contaminants. While not wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that nickel subsulfide (NiS₂) is formed by the reaction of nickel sulfide (NiS) and SO₂ in the presence of hydrogen. Nickel sulfide can originate from the reaction of nickel oxide and H₂S. The suspected reaction mechanism is as follows: NiO+H₂S→NiS+H₂O+ΔH NiS+SO₂+2H₂→NiS₂+2H₂O+ΔH

In one embodiment of the present invention, the sorbent employed in sorption zone 14 can comprise zinc and a promoter metal component. The promoter metal component can comprise one or more promoter metals selected from the group consisting of nickel, cobalt, iron, manganese, tungsten, silver, gold, copper, platinum, zinc, tine, ruthenium, molybdenum, antimony, vanadium, iridium, chromium, palladium, and mixtures thereof. In one embodiment, at least a portion of the promoter metal component is present in a reduced-valence state. The valence reduction of the promoter metal component can be achieved by contacting the sorbent with a reducing agent within sorption zone 14 and/or prior to introduction into sorption zone 14. Any suitable reducing agent can be used, including, but not limited to hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the reduced-valence promoter metal component can comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of, a substitutional solid metal solution characterized by the formula: M_(A)Zn_(B), wherein M is the promoter metal and A and B are each numerical values in the range of from about 0.01 to about 0.99. In the above formula for the substitutional solid metal solution, A can be in the range of from about 0.70 to about 0.98 or 0.85 to 0.95 and B can be in the range of from about 0.03 to about 0.30 or 0.05 to 0.15. In one embodiment, A+B=1.

Substitutional solid solutions are a subset of alloys that are formed by the direct substitution of the solute metal for the solvent metal atoms in the crystal structure. For example, it is believed that the substitutional solid metal solution M_(A)Zn_(B) is formed by the solute zinc metal atoms substituting for the solvent promoter metal atoms. Three basic criteria exist that favor the formation of substitutional solid metal solutions: (1) the atomic radii of the two elements are within 15 percent of each other; (2) the crystal structures of the two pure phases are the same; and (3) the electronegativities of the two components are similar. The promoter metal (as the elemental metal or metal oxide) and zinc (as the elemental metal or metal oxide) employed in the sorbent described herein typically meet at least two of the three criteria set forth above. For example, when the promoter metal is nickel, the first and third criteria, are met, but the second is not. The nickel and zinc metal atomic radii are within 10 percent of each other and the electronegativities are similar. However, nickel oxide (NiO) preferentially forms a cubic crystal structure, while zinc oxide (ZnO) prefers a hexagonal crystal structure. A nickel zinc solid solution retains the cubic structure of the nickel oxide. Forcing the zinc oxide to reside in the cubic structure increases the energy of the phase, which limits the amount of zinc that can be dissolved in the nickel oxide structure. This stoichiometry control manifests itself microscopically in an approximate 92:8 nickel zinc solid solution (Ni_(0.92)Zn_(0.08)) that is formed during reduction and microscopically in the repeated regenerability of sorbent.

In addition to zinc and the promoter metal, the sorbent employed in sorption zone 14 can further comprise a porosity enhancer (PE) and an aluminate. The aluminate can comprise a promoter metal-zinc aluminate substitutional solid solution characterized by the formula: M_(Z)Zn_((1-Z))Al₂O₄ wherein M is the promoter metal and Z is in the range of from 0.01 to 0.99. The porosity enhancer, when employed, can be any compound which ultimately increases the macroporosity of the sorbent. In one embodiment, the porosity enhancer can comprise perlite. Examples of sorbents suitable for use in sorption zone 14 and methods of making these sorbents are described in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,429,170 and 7,241,929, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Table 1, below, provides the composition of a sorbent employed in sorption zone 14 according to an embodiment of the present invention where reduction of the sorbent is carried out prior to introduction of the sorbent into sorption zone 14.

TABLE 1 Reduced Sorbent Composition (wt %) Range ZnO M_(A)Zn_(B) PE M_(Z)Zn_((1−Z))Al₂O₄ Broad 10-90  5-80 2-50 2-50 Intermediate 20-60 10-60 5-30 5-30 Narrow 30-40 30-40 10-20  10-20 

In an alternative embodiment where the sorbent is not reduced prior to introduction into sorption zone 14, the promoter metal component can comprise a substitutional solid metal oxide solution characterized by the formula M_(X)Zn_(Y)O, wherein M is the promoter metal and X and Y are in the range of from about 0.01 to about 0.99. In one embodiment, X can be in the range of from about 0.5 to about 0.9, about 0.6 to about 0.8, or 0.65 to 0.75 and Y can be in the range of from about 0.10 to about 0.5, about 0.2 to about 0.4, or 0.25 to 0.35. In general, X+Y=1.

Table 2, below, provides the composition of an unreduced sorbent employed in sorption zone 14 according to an embodiment where the sorbent is not reduced prior to introduction into sorption zone 14.

TABLE 2 Unreduced Sorbent Composition (wt %) Range ZnO M_(X)Zn_(Y)O PE M_(Z)Zn_((1−Z))Al₂O₄ Broad 10-90  5-70 2-50 2-50 Intermediate 20-70 10-60 5-30 5-30 Narrow 35-45 25-35 10-20  10-20 

As mentioned above, when an unreduced sorbent composition is contacted with a hydrogen containing compound in sorption zone 14, reduction of the sorbent can take place in sorption zone 14. Therefore, when sorbent reduction takes place in sorption zone 14, the initial sorbent contacted with the raw gas stream in sorption zone 14 can be a mixture of reduced sorbent (Table 1) and unreduced sorbent (Table 2).

In general, the incoming tail gas stream can contact the initial sorbent in sorption zone 14 at a temperature in the range of from about 150° C. to about 1000° C., about 250° C. to about 700° C., or 350° C. to 550° C. and a pressure in the range of from about atmospheric pressure to about 5000 psig, about atmospheric pressure to about 1000 psig, or atmospheric pressure to 500 psig. At least a portion of sulfur-containing compounds (and/or other contaminants) in the tail gas stream can be sorbed by the sorbent, thereby creating a sulfur-depleted product gas stream and a sulfur-laden sorbent. In one embodiment, sulfur-removal efficiency of sorption zone 14 can be greater than about 85 percent, greater than about 90 percent, greater than about 95 percent, greater than about 98 percent, or greater than 99 percent.

As depicted in FIG. 1, at least a portion of the contaminant-depleted product gas stream can exit sorption zone 14 via conduit 16. In one embodiment, the product gas stream can comprise less than about 1 volume percent, less than about 1000 ppmv, less than about 10 ppmv, or less than 1 ppmv of sulfur-containing components. As shown in FIG. 1, the contaminant-depleted product gas stream can then be routed to a product gas user 16. Product gas user 16 can comprise a vent.

As depicted in FIG. 1, at least a portion of the sulfur-laden sorbent discharged from sorption zone 14 can be routed to drying zone 18 via conduit 116. In one embodiment, the sulfur-laden sorbent can have a sulfur loading in the range of from about 0.1 to about 27, about 3 to about 26, about 5 to about 25, or 10 to 20 weight percent. In drying zone 18, at least a portion of the sulfur-laden sorbent can be dried by flowing an inert gas purge stream in conduit 118 having a temperature in the range of from about 100 to about 550° C., about 150 to about 500° C., or 200 to 475° C. through the sorbent for a time period of at least about 15 minutes, or a time period in the range of from about 30 minutes to about 100 hours, about 45 minutes to about 36 hours, or 1 hour to 12 hours. The resulting dried, sulfur-laden sorbent can then be routed to regeneration zone 20 via conduit 120, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

Regeneration zone 20 can employ a regeneration process capable of removing least a portion of the sulfur (or other sorbed contaminants) from the sulfur-laden sorbent via contact with a regeneration gas stream under sorbent regeneration conditions. In one embodiment, the regeneration gas stream entering regeneration zone 20 via conduit 122 can comprise an oxygen-containing gas stream, such as, for example, air (e.g., about 21 volume percent oxygen). In another embodiment, the regeneration gas stream in conduit 120 can be an oxygen-enriched gas stream comprising at least about 50, at least about 75, at least about 85, or at least 90 volume percent oxygen. In yet another embodiment, the regeneration gas stream can comprise a substantially pure oxygen stream.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the regeneration process employed in regeneration zone 20 can be a step-wise regeneration process. In general, a step-wise regeneration process includes adjusting at least one regeneration variable from an initial value to a final value in two or more incremental adjustments (i.e., steps). Examples of adjustable regeneration variables can include, but are not limited to, temperature, pressure, and regeneration gas flow rate. In one embodiment, the temperature in regeneration zone 20 can be increased by a total amount that is at least about 75° C., at least about 100° C., or at least 150° C. above an initial temperature, which can be in the range of from about 250 to about 650° C., about 300 to about 600° C., or 350 to 550° C. In another embodiment, the regeneration gas flow rate can be adjusted so that the standard gas hourly space velocity (SGHSV) of the regeneration gas in contact with the sorbent can increase by a total amount that is at least about 1,000, at least about 2,500, at least about 5,000, or at least 10,000 volumes of gas per volume of sorbent per hour (v/v/h or h⁻¹) above an initial SGHSV value, which can be in the range of from about 100 to about 100,000 h⁻¹, about 1,000 to about 80,000 h⁻¹, or 10,000 to 50,000 h⁻¹.

In one embodiment, the size of the incremental adjustments (i.e., the incremental step size) can be in the range of from about 2 to about 50, about 5 to about 40, or 10 to 30 percent of magnitude of the desired overall change (i.e., the difference between the final and initial values). For example, if an overall temperature change of about 150° C. is desired, the incremental step size can be in the range of from about 3 to about 75° C., about 7.5 to about 60° C., or 15 to 45° C. In another embodiment, the magnitude of the incremental step size can be in the range of from about 2 to about 50, about 5 to about 40, or 10 to 30 percent of magnitude of the initial variable value. For example, if the initial regeneration temperature is 250° C., the incremental step size can be in the range of from about 5 to about 125° C., about 12.5 to about 100° C., or 25 to 75° C. In general, successive incremental steps can have the same incremental step sizes, or, alternatively, one or more incremental step sizes can be greater than or less than the incremental step size of the preceding or subsequent steps.

In one embodiment, subsequent adjustments to the regeneration variable(s) can be carried out at predetermined time intervals. For example, adjustments can be made after time intervals in the range of from about 1 minute to about 45 minutes, about 2 minutes to about 30 minutes, or 5 to 20 minutes. In another embodiment, the adjustments can be made based on the value(s) of one or more “indicator” variable(s). An indicator variable is a variable in the system monitored to determine the progress of the sorbent regeneration. Examples of indicator variables can include, but are not limited to, sorbent sulfur loading, regeneration sorbent bed temperature, regeneration zone temperature profile (i.e., exotherm), and off-gas stream composition. In one embodiment, the sulfur dioxide (SO₂) concentration in the off-gas stream is monitored to determine when the flow rate of the regeneration gas and/or the regeneration temperature should be incrementally adjusted.

The regeneration process can be carried out in regeneration zone 20 until at least one regeneration end point is achieved. In one embodiment, the regeneration end point can be the achievement of a desired value for one or more of the adjusted regeneration variables. For example, the regeneration process can be carried out until the temperature achieves a final value in the range of from about 300 to about 800° C., about 350 to about 750° C., or 400 to 700° C. or the SGHSV reaches a final value in the range of from about 1,100 to about 110,000 h⁻¹, about 5,000 to about 85,000 h⁻¹, or 25,000 to 60,000 h⁻¹. In another embodiment, the regeneration process can be finished after a predetermined number of variable adjustments. For example, the regeneration process can be carried out long enough for at least 1 or in the range of from about 2 to about 8 or 3 to 5 incremental adjustments to be made. In yet another embodiment, the regeneration process can be carried out until a final value of the selected indicator variable is achieved. For example, the regeneration process can be carried out until the concentration of SO₂ in the off-gas exiting regeneration zone 20 declines to a value less than about 1 volume percent, less than about 0.5 volume percent, less than about 0.1 volume percent, or less than 500 ppmv. Regardless of the specific endpoint selected, the entire length of the regeneration process can be less than about 100 hours, or in the range of from about 30 minutes to about 48 hours, about 45 minutes to about 24 hours, or 1.5 to 12.5 hours.

In one embodiment, the above-described regeneration process can have a regeneration efficiency of at least about 75 percent, at least about 85 percent, at least about 90 percent, at least about 95 percent, at least about 98 percent, or at least 99 percent. The regenerated sorbent can have a sulfur loading that is less than about 10 weight percent, or in the range of from about 0.05 to about 6 weight percent, or 0.1 to 4 weight percent.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, at least a portion of the regenerated sorbent in conduit 124 can then be returned to sorption zone 14. As discussed above, in one embodiment, at least a portion of the regenerated sorbent does not undergo a reduction step prior to introduction into sorption zone. In such an embodiment, the regenerated but unreduced sorbent introduced into sorption zone 14 can comprise an unreduced promoter metal component that includes a substitutional solid metal oxide solution characterized by the formula M_(X)Zn_(Y)O (See e.g., Table 3, above).

Referring back to FIG. 1, the off-gas stream exiting regeneration zone 20 via conduit 126 can subsequently be routed to off-gas user 22. Off-gas user 22 can comprise any unit capable of processing the off-gas stream, such as, for example, a Claus sulfur processing unit. In one embodiment, the off-gas stream exiting regeneration zone 20 via conduit 126 can comprise at least about 5, at least about 10, at least about 20, or at least 25 volume percent SO₂. In one embodiment, the off-gas stream comprises less H₂S than in the tail gas stream entering sorption zone 14 via conduit 112. In another embodiment, off-gas stream can comprise substantially no H₂S.

EXAMPLES

The following examples are intended to be illustrative of the present invention and to teach one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. These examples are not intended to limit the invention in any way.

A sorbent was exposed to several simulated feeds representing various tail gas compositions. The feeds had a general H₂S to SO₂ ratio of about 2:1.

Sorbents containing nickel, zinc, alumina, and expanded perlite were crushed and sieved to obtain 100+/200− mesh size particles. The sorbents were then contacted with the simulated tail gas streams. For Example 2, the sorbent was reduced with hydrogen before being contacted with the feeds, and for Examples 3-5, the sorbents were reduced in-situ during contact with the feeds.

A 1:1 mixture of sorbent and alundum was used to prevent the reactor bed from plugging. This mixture was placed in a downflow fixed bed reactor and heated to 400° C. and slightly elevated pressure to warrant feed flow through the system. To prevent steam from condensing in the reactor, all sample lines, valves, and other sample system components were heat-traced to maintain a temperature above 150° C. both up-and downstream of the reactor. Before analyzing the downstream off-gases, the steam was condensed to protect the on-line analyzers. For Examples 3-5, where a pre-reduction step was carried out, the sorbent was exposed to a 20 volume percent H₂/N₂ gas mixture until water levels in the off-gas were back to approximately their initial levels.

Example 1

This Example was conducted using an unreduced sorbent. The feed stream used contained N₂ with 243 ppmv SO₂ and 243 ppmv H₂S. FIG. 2 shows that H₂S is sorbed, but SO₂ remains in the off-gases.

Example 2

In this Example, the sorbent was pre-reduced with H₂. In this case, complete conversion and storage of both contaminants into the sorbent was achieved. This reaction continued as long as reduced active components were available. Even when these resources neared exhaustion (after 50+ minutes), H₂S was still removed due to the excess availability of ZnO. This is shown in detail in FIG. 3.

Example 3

In this Example, a small amount of a reductant (H₂) was added to the feed. This in-situ reduction forms active species capable of reducing SO₂ and storing the resulting sulfur into the sorbent. This is shown in FIG. 4. When the source of H₂ was removed, simultaneous removal of H₂S and SO₂ continued for approximately 8000 seconds, after which the amount of SO₂ in the feed or effluent increased.

Example 4

A gas composition resembling refinery off-gases was simulated to show that both SO₂ and H₂S can be removed under these conditions. These gases tend to contain larger amounts of steam. The gas composition studied is shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Refinery Gas Simulation Component Amount SO₂ [ppm] 2000 H₂S [ppm] 10000 H₂ [%] 1 CO [%] — CO₂ [%] 4 H₂O [%] 32 Balance N₂ The results are shown in FIG. 5. The sorbent achieved comparable removal levels to detection limits for both contaminants as long as reduced active components (Ni and Zn) were available.

Example 5

A Claus unit tail gas simulation was also tested. This tail gas contains syngas, CO₂, H₂S and SO₂, but very low moisture levels. Table 4 below shows the composition of the Claus unit tail gas tested.

TABLE 4 Claus Simulation Component Amount SO₂ [ppm] 330 H₂S [ppm] 660 H₂ [%] 20 CO [%] 20 CO₂ [%] 8 H₂O [%] — Balance N₂ FIG. 6 shows that the sorbent achieved the same removal efficiency observed before for other feed compositions. 

1. A process for removing sulfur compounds from a gas, comprising: a) providing a sorbent, comprising; expanded perlite, a substitutional solid solution characterized by the formula Ni_(Z)Zn_((1-Z))Al₂O₄, and a substitutional solid metal solution characterized by the formula Ni_(A)Zn_(B), wherein A is a numerical value is in the range of from about 0.70 to about 0.98, and B is a numerical value in the range of from about 0.03 to about 0.30; b) contacting the sorbent with a reducing agent in a reduction zone, wherein as a result of said contacting, at least a portion of the Ni promoter metal component of the sorbent is converted to a reduced-valence state; c) contacting the sorbent with a tail gas stream in a sorption zone, wherein said tail gas comprises sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), and wherein H₂S present in said tail gas reacts with said Ni promoter metal to produce NiS, and SO₂ present in said tail gas reacts with NiS in the presence of a reducing agent to form NiS₂, wherein said contacting simultaneously reduces the quantity of SO₂ and H₂S present in the tail gas, thereby generating a sulfur-laden sorbent; d) regenerating at least a portion of said sulfur-laden sorbent with a regeneration gas stream in a regeneration zone to produce a regenerated sorbent and an off-gas stream comprising SO₂; e) returning at least a portion of said regenerated sorbent to said sorption zone of step c) for a subsequent contacting step; f) routing at least a portion of said off-gas stream comprising SO₂ to an off-gas user.
 2. A process according to claim 1, wherein said off-gas user comprises a Claus unit.
 3. A process according to claim 1, wherein conditions in said sorption zone include a temperature in the range of from about 150° C. to about 1000° C.
 4. A process according to claim 1, wherein conditions in said sorption zone include a temperature in the range of from about 350° C. to about 550° C.
 5. A process according to claim 1, wherein conditions in said sorption zone include a pressure in the range of from about atmospheric pressure to about 5000 psig.
 6. A process according to claim 1, wherein conditions in said sorption zone include a pressure in the range of from about atmospheric pressure to about 1000 psig.
 7. A process according to claim 1, wherein conditions in said sorption zone include a pressure in the range of from about atmospheric pressure to about 500 psig.
 8. A process according to claim 1, wherein conditions in said regeneration zone includes a regeneration gas stream comprising oxygen.
 9. A process according to claim 1, wherein said regeneration gas stream comprises air.
 10. A process according to claim 1, wherein said tail gas stream comprises the compounds SO₂ and H₂S, and wherein each said compound is present in the range of up to about five percent by volume, based on the total volume of said tail gas stream.
 11. A process according to claim 1, wherein said tail gas stream has a ratio of H₂S to SO₂ of less than 10:1.
 12. A process according to claim 1, wherein said tail gas stream has a ratio of H₂S to SO₂ of about 2:1. 